Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark 11:24, KJV)

The words of Jesus above are crystal clear. He says whatsoever you desire, you should believe when you pray and you will receive them. Does God care about our desires? Did He not tell  us our desires are evil and we should reject our them to follow His desires for us? Let me quickly point out the difference between lust and desire.

When God created Adam, He made him with desires. Our desires in themselves are not evil or sinful. God created us with the capacity to desire and He takes delight to know what our desires are. I know some of you might be scratching your heads because religion has painted a picture of God in our minds. He says “Delight thyself also in the LORD; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4, KJV). The Lord pays attention to our desires. 

Let us now briefly discuss the problem with our desires. It is called the flesh. Human desire has been corrupted to its core by sin in the flesh. This corrupted desire is what is called lust. You see where our problems now lie. If we live in the flesh, we can be sure our desires are not those pure desires listed above but are the corrupted desire called lust. This is the desire that pushes us to sin. I remember a minister once narrated a story of a woman who heard the verse above and came for with  prayer request for God to give her the husband of another woman. She was asking God to cause a divorce so she can have the man she desired and loved. This is an extreme example of lust. When God asks us to desire and pray, He is not asking us to express our lusts to Him. He does not give us the lusts of our hearts.

However, this truth should not cause us to put a black label on our desires. When we walk in the Spirit, our desires will be pure. Yes, it is possible to have pure desires, and the Lord delights to know what you desire and give it to you. The secret then is not the thing we desire. It is what is controlling our lives, the flesh, or the Spirit.

MEDITATE

Can you have pure desires? Does the Lord pay attention to what you desire and ask of Him?

APPLY THE WORD

The Lord will lead you many times through your desires. I have a strong desire in my heart to see believers come to the revelation of Christ in the Word. This is MY DESIRE. However, it is obvious this is not just my desire. It is the Spirit that has put this in me. Do not kill your desires. Rather kill the flesh!

PRAY

Ask the Father to help you purify your desire by the Spirit. 

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